Vestige of Innocence
by Perpetual Dreams
Summary: Post HetaOni fic...Italy was able to successfully rescue himself and the other nations from the accursed mansion. Everything was finally at peace again. Or, so it seemed. Had Italy finally stopped suffering? Bad summary is bad. Will not be continued.


**A/N:** ...what? Another fic? Yes, I have returned once more! I just got a sudden burst of inspiration for writing, so I decided to write this fic down! This fic is based off of a fanmade game called HetaOni; the game is based off of the fandom Axis Powers Hetalia. I got into the fandom about a month ago and I absolutely **love** it! It's fantastic!

Sorry if Feli and Lovi seem a bit OOC. It's my first time writing a fic about them, but I think I got their personality down. *has roleplayed as the two quite a bit* And uh...I probably have grammatical errors here, too, and whatnot. Especially tense shifting. Effff, I hate that. I always seem to shift my tenses. Not to mention that I uploaded this late at night, when I was tired...

Aside from that, please enjoy!

* * *

Italy woke up with a strangled gasp, tears streaming down his face. His pouring sweat caused the bed sheets to cling to his body. The nation put his head into his hands; how much longer will he have to go through this? How much longer will he suffer, watching his fellow nations die over and over, despite the fact that they had escaped? Why was he still being tortured? Italy curled up into a ball, his eyes squeezed shut, whimpering slightly. He had saved everyone from that mansion, but he couldn't even save himself from his own nightmares.

Romano had decided to spend the night at Spain's house, so Italy was all alone. Romano had a few doubts with leaving Italy home all alone, as he knew how much the dreaded mansion had affected his younger brother. Feliciano, however, had told Lovino that it was okay for him to go to Spain.

"You don't have to take care of me all the time, fratellone. I can take care of myself," Italy had told him with a watery smile. Romano had to begrudgingly accept in the end, and he had departed to the Spaniard's home, not before shooting a concerned glance to his fratellino.

Now Italy realized how truly afraid he was when he was all alone. He uncurled slightly, glancing around the room with wide eyes, before settling his gaze on his room door. He had locked it, hadn't he? If he didn't, then the Thing would come in and-

No. They weren't in the mansion anymore. The Thing was obviously angry at the fact that Italy had succeeded in the end. Feliciano had burned the journal, making sure to tear each and every page off, using them to kindle the fire. He shouldn't have to worry anymore.

But, even with that memento gone, the feeling of fear, the instincts, and the memories remained.

And Italy absolutely **hated** it.

He thought that he had finally left that whole ordeal behind. Everyone was safe and finally reunited again.

If that's the case, then _why was he still suffering_?

Feliciano shakily grabbed his phone, peering down at the time that was shown. 3:30 AM. He released a soft sigh, realizing that he probably won't be able to get any more sleep any time soon. Suddenly, his room door rattled against the door frame. Startled, Italy pushed himself against his bed, shaking uncontrollably; his eyes were wide open in fear. Someone, or something, was trying to get into his room, and he was completely defenseless. Feliciano's breath hitched in his throat when he suddenly flashbacked to when the Thing had murdered the others, one by one, in one of the earlier time loops.

'_No no no no no!'_ Italy loudly screamed, clutching his head, trying to will the images away, not hearing the door finally open, or the footsteps of someone running into the room. '_Get out, get out, get out!'_

"Feliciano! It's me!" Italy slowly opened his eyes, seeing a blurred figure of Lovino clutching his shoulders. With a mix between a gasp and a sob, he clutched tightly on his brother's shirt, feeling tears running down his cheeks. Lovino hesitated before he rubbed gently on Feliciano's back.

"I could feel your distress all the way at the tomato bastard's house. Idiota, I told you that I should have stayed," the personification of South Italy grumbled, keeping his volume down. The last thing that he wanted to do was to frighten Feliciano more than he already was.

"Mi dispiace, fratello," Feliciano whispered. Lovino flinched at the hollow and heartbroken tone. He would never admit this, but he wished that his fratellino went back to his normal bubbly self. Romano doubted that it will happen any time soon. He sighed.

"It's fine, Feliciano."

Italy clutched at his brother tighter. "C-can you stay with me, per favore?" he whispered, looking down at the blankets.

"Of course, idiot. I wasn't planning on going back to tomato bastard's house at this time," Lovino replied, crawling under the covers. Feliciano weakly smiled at Romano.

"Grazie, fratello," he thanked before falling into an uneasy, yet dreamless, sleep.

Romano sighed softly, running his hands through Feliciano's hair, mindful of his brother's curl. That's just one tiny step closer to recovery. How long it will take for Feliciano's full recovery, Romano will never know.

'_When will you get better? When will the nightmares finally release you from their grasp? They—no, we—all miss your bubbly personality, Feliciano.'_

Lovino sighed at his thoughts before he closed his eyes, falling asleep as well.

'_Fratellino…when will you finally move on?'_

* * *

**A/N: **...FFFFF, STUPID FANFICTION. Y U NO SAVE?! *forgot what I had initially put here*

So, uh...-ahem- I don't know if this fic will be continued. Nor do I know if this fic has any pairings. I'll leave it to you readers to interpret this. This is so ironic; I don't even have any plans for my own fic that I just wrote...

So, please read and review and thanks for reading!

I apologize for the shortness and for the errors... *rolls away*


End file.
